Investigator: Bachmann Camp Paid Key Iowa Backer

A special investigator says an Iowa senator likely violated ethics rules by taking money from political entities connected to former presidential candidate Michele Bachmann and then denying he'd done so.

Attorney Mark Weinhardt said in a report Wednesday that it was "manifestly clear" that Sen. Kent Sorenson negotiated payments in 2011 that eventually reached $7,500 monthly in exchange for his work as Bachmann's Iowa campaign chairman.

Weinhardt says Sorenson received compensation that originated from Bachmann's presidential campaign and her political action committee. He says the payments went to a Colorado company, which then paid Sorenson's Iowa-based firm.

Sorenson says he doesn't agree with the report. He says he was a subcontractor for a company that worked for Bachmann's campaign, and was never employed directly by the Minnesota congresswoman.

A special investigator says an Iowa senator likely violated ethics rules by taking money from political entities connected to former presidential candidate Michele Bachmann and then denying he'd done so.